Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

[Carl Dickson]

This book is an unusual recommendation. It was an amazing surprise for me. It's not a self-help book, and yet it is.

It's a science fiction novel about establishing the first colony on Mars. 100 people highly qualified people go. They are experts in their fields who are as clueless as most people about the nature of community. A rabble-rouser among them challenges them to create something that's different from anything humans every created for Earth, because they will no longer be living on Earth.

Out of that simple moment comes some great exploration over the nature of community, with side trips to socialism, other economic models, resource allocation, authority, and the role of power in society. The author does a great job of not showing an opinion and letting the characters, representing many different views and attitudes, speak their minds and for circumstances to play out without judgment. 

The author did such a good job that I'm planning to build a course around the book.

Fair warning, it was slow getting started and I give it a medium-low score on how enjoyable a read it is. But I give it top scores on learning potential. But  it's not a pleasure read. This might make it perfect for LearnGrowRepeat members, who I suspect are more willing than most to invest in reading a book for the sake of learning instead of entertainment.

If you want to see a plausible account of creating a community filled with ordinary people who haven't thought through the nature of community you'll get a lot to think about from reading it. In a book club setting, there will be a lot to talk about that directly translates into things that are relevant to LearnGrowRepeat.